1990 World Cup kit-tracker – Group C

Brazil 2 Sweden 1

This was to be Brazil’s last tournament wearing kit made by Topper, whose headquarters are in Rio. The v-neck insert was quite old-fashioned but it still made for a nice kit while goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel harked back to Félix with his large wordmark and central crest. He got to do so in two kits, as the game started with him wearing the same colours as Sweden.

Sweden goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli had the same shirt as Thomas N’Kono of Cameroon but with matching shorts while his team-mates had a pleasing reversal of their first-choice shirts, albeit with a higher adidas trefoil.

Costa Rica 1 Scotland 0

Costa Rica goalkeeper Luis Gabelo Conejo would wear three different shirts in the group stage, here in a bluey-purple top featuring the Lotto logo in the fabric. He didn’t carry any number on his shorts.

The outfield first-choice kit featured dark blue shorts but a white set was worn instead to avoid a further clash with Scotland, who were in their very attractive change kit.

Brazil 1 Costa Rica 0

There is a common belief that, like Germany in 2014, Costa Rica went for local inspiration with their change kit and an homage to Juventus, but it seems it was actually commemorating Club Sport La Libertad, the country’s first professional club.

The shorts differed from those worn against Scotland in that they had black accents rather than red while the socks didn’t feature any Lotto logos.

Conejo was in green this time – sans Lotto logo though – while Taffarel switched to blue. Like his colleagues, he wore the blue socks from the away kit, not a perfect match with the shorts but not far off.

Scotland 2 Sweden 1

Ravelli’s shirt had a black back but he was allowed to wear it against Scotland, despite referee Eduardo Maciel having to switch to red.

Scotland 0 Brazil 1

As against Sweden, Jim Leighton didn’t have to change his shirt despite the large amounts of yellow. A third win for Brazil guaranteed them top spot and sent Scotland home.

Sweden 1 Costa Rica 2

Conejo’s third different shirt – while the Lotto logo was missing from one of his two shirts actually made by the firm, here it was present but on a rebadged Uhlsport 544 model. Costa Rica advanced in second place.

4 comments on “1990 World Cup kit-tracker – Group C”

About that Costa Rica Away kit, it was chosen to be an homage to Juventus, but actually it was also chosen by the Costa Rica Football Federation as an homage to Club Sport La Libertad (who wore black and white stripes), which was then the oldest Costa Rican club (which was 100 year old at the time, eestablished in 1905), which declared bankrupt in the previous months before the 1990 World Cup.

I remember watching the Brazil v Sweden match and the commentator on BBC at half time saying Taffarel had been asked to change kit because his blue strip in the first half clashed with Sweden’s away kit.

Also Denis by the way I noticed you put the referee in black for the Brazil v Scotland match, the referee actually wore red.